Good morning. The white sand beaches, turquoise waters and secluded luxury resorts of this South Asian archipelago attract millions of tourists each year. But a new trade has quietly emerged behind the postcard-perfect backdrop: a web of companies helping Russia evade sanctions.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in goods that are restricted or destined for sanctioned companies have changed hands at the airport, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and interviews with Western officials. Some of these goods serve both civilian and military uses. The airport's cargo holds are often filled with aircraft parts and electronic components, as well as other restricted goods, according to the documents and officials.

Unexpected corners: The amount of goods flowing through the Maldives is relatively small when compared with Russia's biggest channels for sanctions evasion, including China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which together account for about $15 billion in restricted Russian imports annually. But the flow of goods through the Maldives, which hasn't previously been reported, shows how expansive Russia's efforts to thwart Western restrictions are, turning even small and unexpected corners of the globe into channels for goods.

Aeroflot flights: A commercial flight operated by Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot, lands each morning at the airport in Malé, where teams of local middlemen working with Russia-linked logistics companies help get the U.S., European and Chinese goods cleared through customs. The goods are then loaded onto the Aeroflot flights, which fly back to Moscow with goods and cargo around two hours later.

Aircraft replacements: Once in Russia, the products are distributed, in some cases, to sanctioned entities, including Russia's biggest domestic carrier S7 Airlines and its maintenance subsidiaries, which have struggled to get replacement parts for its fleet of aging aircraft.

New routes: "This shows there are effective channels that exist far outside of the usual suspects," said Pavlo Shkurenko, a sanctions research fellow at the Kyiv School of Economics Institute.

Compliance

How Amazon's 'secret' ad pricing system worked, according to the FTC.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon.com on Monday, alleging the e-commerce giant deceived advertisers by secretly raising the minimum price they had to pay to place ads promoting their products.

In a complaint, the agency said advertisers lost over $20 billion as a result of the practice, which began in 2018, and consumers paid higher prices as a result. Amazon said the lawsuit is "misguided" and that the FTC's claim "fundamentally misunderstands how advertisers operate." Amazon said it looks forward to making its case in court.

SEC presses investment firms to prove they have access to shares in hot startups.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its examinations of firms behind so-called special purpose vehicles that purport to offer exposure to private company investments.

SEC examiners have been asking registered investment advisers for proof that their SPVs own or have exposure to the shares in private companies that they claim to, according to people familiar with the matter.

An Australian financial intelligence regulator is investigating Western Union over concerns with the payment network provider's anti-money-laundering controls, Risk Journal's Max Fillion reports.

A federal judge in Albany shut down a New York law that sought to secure billions of dollars from energy companies for their contributions to climate change, Risk Journal reports.

Risk Journal reports: Ohio State University agreed to pay $2.1 million to resolve civil allegations that it failed to disclose employees' affiliations with and funding from China in connection with research funded by the federal government, the Justice Department said Monday.

OpenAI hit back at Apple after the iPhone-maker accused it of trade secret theft.

The amount global economic losses from climate change are expected to reach in a typical year.

Risk

Retailers ditch variety to beat supply-chain costs and tariffs.

Retailers are slimming down product lines as they grapple with higher costs to import, move and store goods.

Businesses from consumer-products maker Helen of Troy to athletic-apparel retailer Under Armour are narrowing the selection of products they sell. The strategy to focus on the most popular merchandise can help cut costs and simplify sprawling supply chains at a time when companies are coping with new U.S. tariffs and surging transportation costs.

Music artists sue AI song generator Suno over alleged copycats.

A group of musicians led by Jason Isbell is suing artificial-intelligence music platform Suno, alleging the company allows its users to generate copycat songs based on artists' names without their permission.

The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, sets up a public fight over an unsettled question simmering in the music industry: how artists will assert power over their identities in the messy rise of AI music.

The European Union welcomed the U.S. Treasury's "Operation Economic Outcast" campaign against Iran, pledging to work closely with Washington and other allies to maintain pressure on the Middle East country.

The U.S. carried out new strikes on Iranian targets Tuesday, with President Trump saying the operation was launched in retaliation for Iran's attempts to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz and attacks targeting American servicemembers in the Middle East.

U.S. energy giant Chevron said it would invest over $7 billion in Venezuela, more than doubling its production in the country's oil fields.

Apple has updated its Maps application to make Lake America searchable for U.S. users, while the label above the Canadian border remains Lake Ontario.

Germany accused Russia of being behind a plot to send explosive drones to a German airport last month and pledged to retaliate against Moscow, a rare public attribution of blame in the widening campaign of incursions and sabotage across NATO territory.

Rising oil prices are forcing central banks to decide how long they can treat the Iran war's effect on inflation as temporary. For the Federal Reserve, investors increasingly think the answer is not much longer.

The Bank of Canada is widely expected to keep its main interest rate unchanged on Wednesday as policymakers assess the fallout from a stark deterioration in Ottawa-Washington trade ties.

Novartis paused eight clinical trials of an experimental therapy targeting autoimmune and neurological disorders in late August, after three patients died.

Trump administration officials are escalating an immigration crackdown on commercial truck drivers, setting off a new clash with Democratic-led states.

A last-minute bid by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to reduce electric utilities' wildfire liabilities failed in the state legislature after an outcry from survivors.

The Brazilian billionaire who shares control of JBS, the world's largest meatpacker, lobbied President Trump to lower tariffs on beef imports as a way to tame rising U.S. prices.

Dow Jones Global Horizons

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What Else Matters

The global economy has a new challenge to surmount: an unruly bond market that is sending borrowing costs to their highest levels in decades.

One man helped broker an arms trade between two militant groups that threatens another key oil-shipping route in the Middle East.

Hyperscalers' need for speed is spawning timesaving products and building techniques.

Republicans are planning to raise millions of dollars during the coming GOP midterm convention in Dallas, including asking donors to pay more than $88,000 for a photo with President Trump.

In the Russian city of Ulan-Ude, high sign-on bonuses and so-called "coffin money," the payout benefits for fallen soldiers, are fueling an economic boom. New apartments, businesses and cars are popping up across the city while graves are piling up in the local cemetery.

The woman killed in an unprovoked stabbing Monday in Midtown Manhattan has been identified as a vice president in Bank of America's global corporate and investment bank division.

About Us

Follow us on LinkedIn. Send tips to our reporters Max Fillion at max.fillion@dowjones.com, Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com, Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com and Richard Vanderford at richard.vanderford@wsj.com.

You can also reach us by replying to any newsletter, or by emailing our editors Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and David Smagalla at david.smagalla@wsj.com.

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